![]() ![]() These socio-economic realities have a strong impact on the island’s biodiversity and natural wealth. Factors such as population growth, political instability, global food price fluctuations, and the increasing frequency of extreme climatic events further push Madagascar’s population into precarious situations and exacerbate the annual impacts of the hunger gap. Furthermore, the situation regarding food security has deteriorated, increasing from 29.7% of the population in 1993 being below the minimum level of dietary energy consumption to 32.5% in 2013. The proportion of the population living in extreme poverty (under USD 1.25 a day) has increased over the last decades, growing from 67.1% in 1993 to 77.1% in 2013. The United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal 1, which focused on the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, was not met in Madagascar. Madagascar is of particular interest when considering the hunger gap, with close to 80% of its population working in the agricultural sector and poverty levels remaining some of the world’s highest. We end by discussing various past and present responses aimed at improving the resilience of farmers of the Alaotra region, including improved accessibility, agricultural intensification, and conservation agriculture. The hunger gap appears to have varying degrees of impact on communities around Lake Alaotra, linked to factors such as road quality and agrarian structures-for example, land tenure and size of parcels-contributing to growing environmental degradation. Results show that farmers are vulnerable to climatic events during a large part of the year, exacerbating the impacts of the hunger gap. Using a case study in the Alaotra region, we examine the seasonal trends of climate and agricultural resource dynamics, as well as characterize farmers’ experiences of and strategies used in response to the hunger gap, in order to assess how conservation may better consider the hunger gap to align its objectives with local needs. With a population largely relying on agriculture, and high poverty and malnutrition rates continuously afflicting the country, farmers in Madagascar are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of the hunger gap, further putting pressure on already fragile ecosystems. ![]() The hunger gap (the annual period of hardship when most crops are growing but not yet ready for harvest) remains a reality for many smallholder farmers throughout the globe. ![]()
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